Today's Beautiful Gem: `Nonviolence and Compassion' by Sri Harsha,
translation based on that by Berridale Keith.

"My own body, for others' sake would I offer in compassion, unasked;
For the sake of winning a kingdom, how could I cruelly kill the living?"

"nityam prANAtipAtAt prativirama kuru prAkRte cAnutApam
yatnAt puNyapravAhaM samupacinu dis'an sarvasattveSv abhItim
magnaM yenAtra nainah: phalati parimitaprANihinsAttam etad
durghADApArAvArer lavaNapalam iva kSiptam antar hradasya"

"Stop killing life forever;
repent your past misdeeds;
With effort accumulate blessed merit (puNya);
may all creatures be unafraid of you;
Lost in the depths of your goodness,
may violence towards living creatures
cease to succeed
Like a grain of salt hidden in the deep seas."

Note: Is it Jimutavahana, the hero of Naagaananda, or Gautama, the ever- compassionate apostle of nonviolence, speaking the above words? The first poem is the hero's reaction to win back his kingdom through war and the second contains his advice to Garuda before passing away.

Om s'aantih: Peace! - J. K. Mohana Rao

<:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:>317<:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:>